London Buses route 134
London Buses route 134 is a Transport for London contracted bus route in London, England. Running between North Finchley and Warren Street, it is operated by Metroline. History Route 134 commenced operation on 3 October 1934 and was a re-numbering of routes 284 and 284A. It ran as a daily service between Potters Bar garage and Victoria Coach Station via Hadley Highstone, Barnet, Whetstone, North Finchley, East Finchley, Archway, Camden Town and Trafalgar Square. A small extension at Potters Bar was introduced from 7 October 1937 when the route was extended daily from the London Transport garage via Great North Road and Church Road to Potters Bar (The Avenue). On 5 January 1938 a more important change occurred, when route 134 swapped its intermediate routing between Whetstone and Highgate with its supplementary and 'sister route' 135. As a wartime economy, evening services between Potters Par and Friern Barnet were withdrawn on 15 November 1939. This curtailment was partially re-instated from the 3 January 1940, when the route was reinstated evenings between Hadley Highstone and Friern Barnet. On 15 May 1940, the supplementary route 135 was withdrawn, with route 134 diverted at Victoria as a partial replacement, away from the Coach Station, to run to Pimlico (Dolphin Square). The evening service to Potters Bar was restored. An emergency express service between Muswell Hill and Victoria was introduced from 7 November 1940. This was operated by 'provincial buses' drafted into London to help out during the Blitz. It worked throughout the winter months and was withdrawn on 19 March 1941. The evening service between Victoria and Pimlico was withdrawn on 29 October 1941. On 12 October 1955, route 134 was extended from Potters Bar (The Avenue) to Potters Bar station. Three years later in the aftermath of the bus crews Strike of 1958, route 134 was altered slightly from 26 November 1958. The service past Victoria to Pimlico now only operated on Monday to Friday at peak times, Saturdays and Sundays. On 23 August 1969, the Sunday service to Pimlico being withdrawn followed by the Saturday service on 25 October 1969. On 1 January 1970 the Greater London Council took over responsibility for the operation and running of London Transport. From 24 January 1970, a number of bus routes were re-organised to take into account the changes in travelling patterns brought about by the opening of the Victoria line to Victoria in March 1969. As well as cutting out duplication of services, they were intended to 'encourage' passengers to transfer to the underground. Route 134 was cut back at this time to terminate at Warren Street station, where the terminus stand space had been made free by the withdrawal of route 127. Over a period of just six months, route 134 had been completely removed from operating in Central London. By 1975, it was considered that route 134 had been too severely cut back in 1970 by removing it from the major traffic objective of Oxford Street. On 14 June 1975, it was extended daily southwards to Tottenham Court Road station. On 23 April 1983, route 134 was cut back to Barnet Church and replaced over the section to Potters Bar by route 263. This was the first section of route 134 to be converted to one man operation and had been made necessary by the need for cost cutting outside the GLC area (in this case, within Hertfordshire). On 21 June 1986, route 134 itself was converted to one man operation. On 7 October 1989, route 134 was further cut back to terminate at Friern Barnet Town Hall. On 21 July 1990, the closure of Muswell Hill garage and the change of the route's operating garage to Finchley meant an extension on Mondays to Saturdays to North Finchley was introduced. The Sunday service also extended there as from 1 February 1998. In 1999, the route was converted low-floor operation using brand new Plaxton President bodied Dennis Tridents. In 2002, Plaxton President bodied Volvo B7TLs were introduced alongside the existing Plaxton President bodied Dennis Tridents. On 23 April 2004, the route was converted into a 24-hour service. On 5 February 2005, the route was retained by Metroline. On 4 February 2012, the route was retained by Metroline with brand new Wright Eclipse Gemini 2 bodied Volvo B9TLs introduced. In September 2016, Alexander Dennis Enviro 400s were introduced. On 1 April 2017, the daytime allocation was transferred to Potters Bar (PB) garage. On 2 February 2019, the route was retained by Metroline using brand new MCV EvoSeti bodied Volvo B5LHs and Wright Eclipse Gemini 3 bodied Volvo B5LHs. The night service was transferred to Potters Bar (PB) garage at the same time. On 15 June 2019, the route was withdrawn between Warren Street and Tottenham Court Road Station. The route was converted to a full MCV EvoSeti bodied Volvo B5LH operation at the same time. On 19 August 2019, the MCV EvoSeti bodied Volvo B5LHs were replaced by brand new Optare Metrodecker EVs. Current route Route 134 operates via these primary locations: *North Finchley Tally Ho Corner *Friern Barnet *Highgate Station *Archway Station *Tufnell Park Station *Kentish Town Station *Camden Town Station *Mornington Crescent Station *Euston Square Station *Warren Street Station External links *London Bus Routes Gallery *Full Timetable (PDF) 134, London Buses routes